1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a half-fitting prevention connector, used to electrically connect wire harnesses in an automobile and others, in which a half-fitted condition is prevented by a resilient force of a resilient member, and also damage to the connector is prevented.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 10-254119, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various half-fitting prevention connectors have heretofore been known. For example, a half-fitting prevention connector, disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 9-134757, will be described.
As shown in FIG. 8, the related half-fitting prevention connector 61 comprises a first connector 62, in which connector terminals 78, connected respectively to wires of a wire harness, are mounted, and a second connector 63 in which connector terminals 79 for contact respectively with the connector terminals 78 are mounted. The second connector 63 comprises a housing body 64, and a slider 65 which is attached to the outer periphery of the housing body 64 for sliding movement in an axial direction, and is resiliently urged forward.
An engagement groove 67 and a retaining projection 68 are provided at a front end portion of a housing of the first connector 62, and an elastic lock arm 70, having a lock portion 69 for engagement in the engagement groove 67, is provided at a front end portion of the housing of the second connector 63.
The slider 65 is resiliently urged forward in the axial direction so as to control the flexing (elastic deformation) of the lock arm 70 and also to prevent a half-fitted condition, and an abutment portion 71 for abutting engagement with the retaining projection 68 is provided at the front end of the slider 65. This abutment portion 71 is provided at a cantilever arm 72 connected to a rear end portion of the slider 65, and this cantilever arm 72 can be elastically deformed outwardly, and has a rectangular slide hole 73 formed through a central portion thereof.
A cantilever arm-pressing projection 74 is formed at that portion of the housing body 64 corresponding to the slide hole 73. The male connector terminals 78 project into an internal space 75 of the first connector, and the female connector terminals 79 are received respectively in terminal receiving chambers 76 in the housing body 64.
In the half-fitting connector 61 of the above construction, as the first and second connectors 62 and 63 are fitted together as shown in FIG. 9, the abutment portion 71, formed at the distal end of the cantilever arm 72 formed on the slider 65, is first brought into abutting engagement with the retaining projection 68 formed on the housing 66 of the first connector 62.
Then, when the housing body 64 of the second connector 63 is further pushed in the fitting direction, only the housing body 64 advances in the fitting direction, with the slider 65 kept stopped. As a result, the front portion of the lock arm 70 is exposed from the slider 65, and therefore can be flexed upwardly as shown in FIG. 10. Then, when the housing body 64 is further pushed, the lock portion 69 slides onto the front end portion of the mating housing 66.
Then, immediately before the lock portion 69 is brought into engagement in the engagement groove 67, the cantilever arm-pressing projection 74 presses the abutment portion 71 to cancel the retaining engagement of the abutment portion 71 with the retaining projection 68 as shown in FIG. 11, and therefore the lock portion 69 is engaged in the engagement groove 67, and at the same time the slider 65 advances under the influence of the resilient force to cover the lock portion 69, thereby preventing the disengagement of the lock portion.
If the fitting force is removed before the abutment portion 71 is disengaged from the engagement projection 68, the housing body 64 is pushed back in an anti-fitting direction under the influence of the resilient force acting on the slider 65. Therefore, such a half-fitted condition of the two connectors can be easily detected.
For canceling the fitted condition of the first and second connectors 62 and 63, the slider 65 is returned rearward, and as a result, the housing body 64 is also returned since a slide range-limiting mechanism (not shown) is provided between the slider 65 and the housing body 64. At this time, the lock portion 69 is not covered with the slider 65, and the lock portion 69 has a rear slanting surface, and therefore the lock portion 69 is disengaged from the engagement groove 67 while flexing the lock arm 70 outwardly. When the slider 65 is released after the first and second connectors 62 and 63 are disconnected from each other, the slider 65 is moved in the disconnecting direction under the influence of the resilient force.
However, in the above half-fitting prevention connector 61, when the abutment portion 71 of the slider 65 is to be disengaged from the retaining projection 68 during the fitting operation as shown in FIG. 11, the cantilever arm 72 is flexed about a flexing axis C as shown in FIG. 12. In this case, if an abutment surface 71a of the abutment portion 71 and a retaining surface (abutment surface) 68a of the retaining projection 68 are both vertical, one or both of the two is subjected to chipping or deformation at a lap portion L, thus inviting a problem that the reliability and durability are much lowered.
And besides, the cantilever arm 72 is formed on the slider 65 slidably attached to the outer periphery of the housing body 64, and therefore there is a possibility that the slider is deformed or damaged upon accidental impingement of an external object, which leads to a malfunction, and this results in a problem that the reliability and durability are further lowered.